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Not that the MOTU & DC lines could've shared bucks, BUT when Mattel did put out 12" versions of Superman, Batman, etc., they still cheaped out, went rotocast, and removed most of the articulation.

A straight comparison between Tytus and the Giant is certainly faulty, but the problem is that Mattel had the opportunity to make a large scale highly articulated figure of BATMAN and still went cheap and made him almost exactly as they made Tytus.

I do agree with this, I just think one of the problems is that Hasbro, maybe willing to take lower margins on some items, or Mattel paid more for their DC rights than Hasbro did for Marvel. or a combo of both

The Frost Giant does indeed re-use the Marvel Icons Thor figure released a couple years back as a base; all of the 4 giant figures in this Walmart exclusive line re-used existing Icon bodies. You're not going to find a lot of new tooling on retail exclusives, although Hasbro will do some new parts, unlike Mattel.

The Frost Giant likely does have a higher production run than Tytus, but also possibly NOT by the huge margin alluded to in some posts above. Retailer exclusives are still limited runs, and, as with most lines these days, only some Walmarts carry Marvel Universe, which likely reduces the numbers even more. Only one of three Wallys in my area carry it.

The Frost Giant actually does go well with Mattel product in one way: Hasbro's Icons bodies usually have a very sticky hip joint that doesn't want to move easily.

Also, the information Mattel gave us about what could and couldn't be done with the 12" rotocast figures is highly suspect all around. Please recall that they said doing a ball joint with a rotocast figure was not possible. Problem is, back around 2004, two 12" rotocast figures were made with ball jointed shoulders in a line called Masters of the Universe, manufactured by a little known company called Mattel. Given that as a starting point, I don't exactly accept any of what followed at face value.

"I will use this power for all the good that can be done, to work for peace, to encourage virtue, and above all, to preserve life in all its forms..." Superman

The Frost Giant does indeed re-use the Marvel Icons Thor figure released a couple years back as a base; all of the 4 giant figures in this Walmart exclusive line re-used existing Icon bodies. You're not going to find a lot of new tooling on retail exclusives, although Hasbro will do some new parts, unlike Mattel.

The Frost Giant likely does have a higher production run than Tytus, but also possibly NOT by the huge margin alluded to in some posts above. Retailer exclusives are still limited runs, and, as with most lines these days, only some Walmarts carry Marvel Universe, which likely reduces the numbers even more. Only one of three Wallys in my area carry it.

The Frost Giant actually does go well with Mattel product in one way: Hasbro's Icons bodies usually have a very sticky hip joint that doesn't want to move easily.

Also, the information Mattel gave us about what could and couldn't be done with the 12" rotocast figures is highly suspect all around. Please recall that they said doing a ball joint with a rotocast figure was not possible. Problem is, back around 2004, two 12" rotocast figures were made with ball jointed shoulders in a line called Masters of the Universe, manufactured by a little known company called Mattel. Given that as a starting point, I don't exactly accept any of what followed at face value.

Scott, Mattel didn't say they couldn't do it, they just said it would've been really expensive to do. Those rotocast figures you speak of also had a likely much higher distribution run than Tytus and Megator, not to mention production costs were still much lower than as opposed to now.

Originally Posted by Prahvus

Getting figures doesn't necessarily mean that Mattel is investing much in this line. Hell, the brand manager Toyguru mainly works during week-ends for this line! That goes to show you how unimportant MOTUC is for Mattel... It is SO unimportant that Mattel didn't even send a quality supervisor in China, despite the repeated QC issues !

No...Toyguru is no longer the brand manager; he just said he won't let it go, so he puts extra time into it in his "free" time.

Last edited by KingRandor82; April 28, 2011 at 12:38pm.
Reason: Automerged Doublepost

Exactly ! Mattel is selling MOTUC online EXCLUSIVELY (not counting the DCUC vs, MOTUC), which allows them to save loads of money. Still, prices for a giant, "limited run" MOTUC figure, are almost the double compared to a "limited run" Marvel Universe (frost giant is an exclusive for ONE store, and sold only in the USA). And with less articulations than the frost giant.

Getting figures doesn't necessarily mean that Mattel is investing much in this line. Hell, the brand manager Toyguru mainly works during week-ends for this line! That goes to show you how unimportant MOTUC is for Mattel... It is SO unimportant that Mattel didn't even send a quality supervisor in China, despite the repeated QC issues !

The same argument you used can also hold true for Hasbro or Bandai : they also produce many figures. Even more figures than Mattel.

It seems to me that many Hasbro figures, which have better articulation and are less expensive than MOTUC, are ALSO produced in China...

I guess I can see more on where you are coming from on this, you make some good points.

Yes, to me. I collect Marvel U 3 3/4 but not the giants. It's a win/win!

The Marvel U line is one of the best lines you can find in stores. They continually get better and better with new articulation and new characters. I can't wait for the Hulk in the Avengers pack, it looks incredible. I love this Frost Giant. I broke out Battle Cat and the 2 pack He-Man when I bought him earlier this month. He works so well with the Masters that I ran back to Walmart the next day and grabbed a second one. Good job, Hasbro. I love when lines can cross.

A journey that began long ago in a place neither near nor far…
A story of heroes, passed down through the ages…
Until now.
This is our story. These are our heroes…

Scott, Mattel didn't say they couldn't do it, they just said it would've been really expensive to do. Those rotocast figures you speak of also had a likely much higher distribution run than Tytus and Megator, not to mention production costs were still much lower than as opposed to now.

Actually, they did say it couldn't be done. The cost issue came up as to why the figures couldn't be made exactly like the smaller ones and had to be rotocast. But as to ball jointed shoulders, Mattel came right out and said, point blank, that it wasn't possible to do a ball joint using rotocast production. In reality, it was likely due to cost that ball joints were skipped, but Mattel said:

"To add ball joints we would need to make Tytus completely the same way we do a 6" figure and this would drive his price to over $100.00. We used roto casting to keep the price down but when you use Roto Casting it prevents ball joints from being used."

Direct quote from TG himself.

Last edited by scott metzger; April 28, 2011 at 05:07pm.

"I will use this power for all the good that can be done, to work for peace, to encourage virtue, and above all, to preserve life in all its forms..." Superman

Horses in MOTUC

To start off this thread, I'd like someone to please tell me what specific toys of horses some people have been using to display their MOTUC figures with. I seem to recall thefwoosh.com and several others showing off some really great shots of Catra, Adora and others on top of some nice brown and black horses. If someone finds any of these pictures please post them. I'm sure several MOTU fans would like to enjoy the same figures.
I'm also interested to know how they compare in scale with the Swiftwind figure Mattel is releasing.

I remember some of the horses were from the Lord of the Rings toyline. I've been tempted to hit Ebay after seeing those pics, but I have a gut feeling we'll be getting Teela's unicorn eventually. We know Swiftwind is coming.

I remember some of the horses were from the Lord of the Rings toyline. I've been tempted to hit Ebay after seeing those pics, but I have a gut feeling we'll be getting Teela's unicorn eventually. We know Swiftwind is coming.

Have Any Of You Mixed These Figs Into Your MOTUC?

I was thinking about getting these figs from the Four Horsemen website. Not familiar with the line, it's called 7th Kingdom or something, but I thought they could mix well.

Was thinking about putting the Red Headed Queen with my Vikor on my PreEternia shelf, the evil looking lady with Skeletor, and maybe the other guy with Hordak or even with my Keldor, 200X Evil Lyn and my Faceless One.

I was thinking about getting these figs from the Four Horsemen website. Not familiar with the line, it's called 7th Kingdom or something, but I thought they could mix well.

Was thinking about putting the Red Headed Queen with my Vikor on my PreEternia shelf, the evil looking lady with Skeletor, and maybe the other guy with Hordak or even with my Keldor, 200X Evil Lyn and my Faceless One.

What are your opinions of these figs?

I had no idea the 4H had their own series of figures to sale. I'd have to try them out soon. Thanks for the find.